Aston Villa, West Brom history didn't stop Birmingham City falling in love with signing | OneFootball

Birmingham City fans managed to fall in love with Kevin Phillips despite his previous connections to Aston Villa and West Brom.

While Birmingham City had managed the impressive capture of goalscorer Kevin Phillips, many Blues supporters would have been skeptical of the arrival given his past connections to some West Midlands rivals.

Nicknamed ‘Super Kev’, the now 51-year-old linked up with Alex McLeish ahead of the 2008/09 season, arriving off the back of an impressive two-season stay at The Hawthorns with West Brom.

Prior to his move to Blues, Phillips had an underwhelming short spell at Villa Park, recording only four goals and two assists from 23 games in the Premier League, but a return to the Championship with Albion saw his goalscoring prowess return for all to see.

With the Baggies, Phillips would go on to have a delightful first season in the blue and white stripes, netting 16 goals, ensuring West Brom made the play-offs, while the frontman etched himself into Albion folklore by netting twice over both legs in the semi-final victory over arch Black Country rivals Wolves.

Despite West Brom losing in the play-off final, Phillips would score goals for fun the following campaign after missing the early part of it with a knee injury.

A remarkably consistent run of form led to Phillips hitting the back of the net 22 times for himself and recording eight assists from 35 second tier games, firing West Brom back to the Premier League as second tier champions under Tony Mowbray.

From that, Phillips decided not to take the leap into the Premier League and elected to remain in the second tier by joining Birmingham City at the age of 35, with some doubting whether he could replicate such a clinical edge in front of goal heading into the twilight period of his career.

Kevin Phillips’ Birmingham City record

Similarly to his time at West Brom, Kevin Phillips would find the net on a regular basis to fire Birmingham City into the Premier League.

The Championship marksman hit the ground running for his new club, scoring goals in the first three second tier games against Sheffield United, Southampton and Barnsley.

Impressing in front of the Blues faithful so quickly, Phillips would go on to net against QPR and Sheffield Wednesday in October before hitting a purple patch of six goals in eight games from November into December, strengthening Birmingham’s grip on an automatic promotion place.

Turning into a beloved figure, goals would dry up heading into 2009, recording strikes against Sheffield Wednesday in the reverse fixture and at home to Burnley, before waiting until the final day against Reading to get back on the scoresheet.

Nevertheless, Phillips’ 14 goals and two assists from 36 games were enough to get the club back to the promised land, with his clinical prowess at the top end of the pitch a major factor to Blues playing top-flight football again.

The Hertfordshire-born man would fail to be as effective in the Premier League as starts dwindled, registering four strikes from 19 games in 2010 before scoring just once the following season as Blues returned to the Championship, but his role in their rise to the top division cannot be overlooked.

Birmingham City fans fell in love with Kevin Phillips despite West Brom, Aston Villa connections

While Birmingham City supporters wouldn’t have been keen on having a player represent their club who had been on other sides of the fence in the Midlands, they couldn’t help but fall in love with the striker once the ball was flying into the opposition’s goal.

‘Super Kev’ guaranteed goals at Championship level, with his devastating edge when given a sniff and the ability to score a wide range of strikes making him adorned to the crowd at St Andrew’s.

No matter the past connections, fans of any club will laud a frontman who can consistently find the back of the net to deliver success, and this was no exception, as Phillips continued to deliver what his career was based around.

Phillips’ successful stint at Birmingham City added to his past triumphs at West Brom, allowing him to reflect fondly of his time in the Midlands when his career eventually came to an end.